THE House of Representatives on Monday approved on second reading the CREATE MORE (CREATE to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy) bill via plenary voice vote.
The measure seeks to harmonize the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act and its implementing rules and regulations (IRR).
Legislators adopted House Committee Report No. 935 in totality as House Bill 9794.
Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry President George T. Barcelon told BusinessWorld that “businesses welcome this development because it broadens further our (ability) to attract more FDI (and enhance) ease of doing business.”
Aside from addressing the inconsistencies between the CREATE Act and its IRR, the CREATE MORE bill also seeks to address concerns about the value-added tax (VAT) refund process.
“The VAT regime must be simple, clear, and transaction-based,” Albay Rep. Jose Maria Clemente S. Salceda and House Ways and Means chair said in a statement. “The incentives regime under the CREATE transition period must be without any ambiguity. And the VAT refund system must work.”
The proposed measure also sets a 20% corporate income tax rate on domestic and foreign corporations under the enhanced deduction income tax regime.
CREATE MORE expands VAT exemptions on imports and the VAT zero-rating on local purchases to current export enterprises accredited by the Export Marketing Bureau.
The bill allows the information technology and business process outsourcing industry to “conduct business under alternative work arrangements.”
The proposed law also returns the power to grant tax incentives to investment promotion agencies (IPA) such as the Philippine Economic Zone Authority and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.
The measure proposes to convert the Fiscal Incentives Review Board into an oversight body for IPAs.
Aside from the CREATE Act, the measure also seeks to amend the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 and the Ease of Paying Taxes Act. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
